Greek school students all wear hijabs in Ksanthi parade for first time! (photos)

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The city of Ksanthi in northeastern region of Greece celebrated its anniversary of the liberation on October 4 from Bulgaria in 1919. The city was mainly under the Islamic Ottoman yoke for 550 years. For the past 98 years students in public schools have been taking part in parades in commemoration of the event in the city called “Eleftheria” which is translated into freedom. But this year’s school celebrations were a little different. The irony is that for the first time since parades were adopted as part of the commemorative events, an all girls’ school (possibly an Islamic religious school), marched with the students all wearing the hijab, a visual representation of Islamic oppression on women, something the ancestors of the people of Ksanthi fought against. According to xanthinews.gr, this appearance of the students was the main topic of discussion after the parade, while city politicians seemed to have been unaware or not expecting it.

The Greek population is 98% Christian Orthodox, with the little Greek Muslim population concentrated in the northeast regions of the country.